


New Beginnings

by PerfectlyHopeless



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Background - Freeform, Drabble, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 08:50:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10553510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectlyHopeless/pseuds/PerfectlyHopeless
Summary: Sara and Scott Ryder have always and will always have each other's backs (a bit of background for my particular twins).





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I started writing while at work and finished later. I hope you enjoy this drabble of a fic <3
> 
> Note: I tried channeling a bit of the Nexus Uprising prologue when writing about Garson, don't know how well it worked

 

 

When they were just a couple of kids growing up on the Citadel, Scott and Sara Ryder were practically inseparable. They quarrelled like siblings all the time, and feelings got hurt and faces got punched. But at the end of the day, they always knew that no matter what they could rely on each other. No matter what, they’d have each other’s backs.

Sara was the older twin by two minutes, a fact that she took to heart and never let Scott forget. She took charge when they were younger, placing it upon herself to protect her “little brother”. Young Sara was feisty and eager to take on all of the kids that ever dared to pick on him. She got into fights often in defense of both Scott and herself. Fights that oftentimes got her into trouble, and afterwards they’d go home, joined at the hip and prepared for any punishment they might face.

Their father was usually off in some lab somewhere, or just away doing… something. They never really knew where he was and their mother never gave them much explanation as to where Alec Ryder had gone. But their mother remained their constant while they were growing up. Ellen Ryder would always scold Sara as she patched her up, wiping away streaks of blood from her daughter’s splotchy skin and putting medi-gel over the cuts and bruises. She was never truly mad about the fights, but she would give Sara a look of maternal disappointment that usually dissuaded the girl from getting into more fights for at least a couple days. 

Once Sara was all fixed up, Scott would sit beside her and reach for her hand, holding it in a quiet apology for getting her into trouble as words passed between them without being said. It was something that he continued to do until he started getting into his own fights on her behalf when they were teenagers, leaping to Sara’s defense as though to make up for her doing so when they were little. Whenever this happened Sara would sit by her little brother, reach for his hand, and hold it for a few moments. He’d meet her gaze, the blue eyes he’d gotten from their mother meeting the grey Sara had received from their father, and silent understanding would pass between them. 

Their dad was slightly more active in their lives as they got older, showing his affection for the two by giving them some basic weapons and combat training. He’d been an N7 soldier in the Alliance, making him an elite soldier even among elites. Sara was a little flattered that he’d decided to take the time to give them such rudimentary training, but couldn’t help but feel a bit of resentment towards the fact that he’d waited so long to be at all active in their lives. When he wasn’t acting as their CO, he remained closed off to the world working on his own projects. 

A minor accident on the Citadel docks exposed the then teenaged twins and their mother to element zero, resulting in both of the twins having biotic inclination and receiving simple biotics training at Arcturus station. Ellen had already taken an interest in dark energy, and her exposure during the accident only fanned her curious flames. She gradually became consumed in her own work. Work that would eventually become her downfall.

Both of the twins joined the Alliance when they came of age, going through basic training together before parting ways. Scott was assigned to Arcturus station as a guard, protecting the mass relay that linked humanity with the rest of the galaxy; while Sara joined an excavation team in charge of digging up Prothean ruins, taking on a primarily peacekeeping role. Both were malcontent with their positions. Scott longed for something more than just standing watch, and while the ruins she came across were often fascinating, Sara had little interest in the Protheans. Neither twin could help but want something more from life. 

The twins shared these feelings with each other often via vid calls. Sara would complain about seeing the same old tech as everything else they’d uncovered, and Scott would gripe about his colleagues or how he felt his training was wasted with guard duty. 

All the while their parents had partnered up with the Andromeda Initiative: a multispecies effort to travel to the Andromeda galaxy in the name of exploration and discovery. With every vid call the Initiative would eventually come up, the temptation to join always there. A new galaxy, a new beginning. A chance for something more than the lives they were leading. The Ryder family's information was in the Initiative's files, cryo pods were set aside, but there was always something holding the twins back from firmly saying, “Yes” with no doubts.

The year 2184 changed all of that. 

When exposed to element zero, one of two things was bound to happen to a human body. First, the element zero would mutate the body to allow for the permanent inclination that would oftentimes result in biotics abilities. This was typically only for children and adolescents, who would be outfitted with implants, as adult bodies would often reject attempts to train the eezo nodes now inside them. And second, the aforementioned mutation would result in cancerous tumors that could easily spread without treatment. 

Ellen’s body reacted about as well as expected as someone who spent the vast majority of her time with element zero. Despite protests from several specialists she carried on with her experiments, and as a result she only grew more and more ill.

The Andromeda Initiative was further ahead of schedule than originally planned, placing the launch date for mid 2185. But as that date drew nearer, Ellen only got sicker. The twins took their leave from their posts to spend as much time as possible with their ailing mother. All the while their father continued his work secretly developing an AI for the Initiative. Sara couldn’t help but add this to the list of things to resent him for. 

Ellen passed about a month before the launch date. Neither twin had ever cried so much in their lives, the two clinging to each other as they sobbed, their mother rolled away down the hospital halls. Her passing was the final straw for the both of them. 

A few hours later they sat side by side on a bench in the hospital lobby, their father outside on a vid call with some stranger. Sara reached for Scott’s hand and her brother took hold of it, his fingers curled around her hand protectively as though they were children again. She rested her head on his shoulder, his head falling against hers. They were silent for a long while, the two still recovering from their violent sobbing. 

Alec Ryder was still on his call as the twins sat there, their faces red and splotchy from their tears, throats constricted from trying to hold back devastated emotion. Sara drew in a shaky breath, her grip on Scott’s hand tightening as she opened her mouth to speak. 

“We’re really going, aren’t we?” she managed, her voice raspy and barely more than a whisper.

“Yeah,” Scott breathed back to her. “I guess we are.”

The next month before the launch didn’t leave the twins with much time for mourning. They received implants that would connect them to the AI that their father had developed, and the twins had been chosen to serve on his team. Their father would be the Pathfinder for humanity, the one to lead them into their new beginning. It was a role that put their survival on his shoulders, a burden he carried well. The man was more strong willed than anyone else Sara had ever met. 

In the days leading to their departure, Sara sat in her bunk with her omni-tool and listened to the speeches given by the founder of the Initiative. It was then that she realized why so many people had signed on for the Initiative. 

Jien Garson was an eccentric woman with a powerful presence, a voice that drew one in close to hear more, and a knack for telling people exactly what they wanted and needed to hear. But above all, she radiated hope.

Optimism was all well and good when it came to facing dangerous odds. It was an easy thing to say “We can do it!” but it was far harder to believe. Hope was what they needed, hope was what they wanted, and hope was more than just a promise when Garson spoke. Her speeches were more than just words to anyone who listened. The woman had a fire inside of her that could melt the fears of all those who paid even just a little bit of attention. And Sara ate up her words. When Garson looked into the camera, it was more than that. Her dark eyes seemed to see through space and time to meet the gaze of her viewers, as though focussed on every unique individual. It captured Sara’s attention, giving her that hope that she’d desperately needed. 

They could do this. They  _ would  _ do this. Andromeda would became their new home. They would survive, they’d make new lives for themselves. Maybe they could make up for lost time and try to be a family again, even if only for a little while. Maybe. 

The day of the launch Garson gave the Milky Way her final speech, giving Sara that last little burst of hope that she needed to calm her lingering anxiety. She leaned against her brother, arms folded over her chest as she looked up at the founder of this project and warmed up in Garson’s hopeful fire.

When the time came the twins followed a line of people filed into humanity’s ark, the Hyperion. 

“Wanna make one more bet before we go under?” Scott propositioned, smirking down at his sister.

Sara grinned, brushing her bangs out of her face to look up at him. “What did you have in mind, little brother?”

“Twenty credits says I’m first to hit solid ground,” he said. 

“Will credits even be worth anything in Andromeda?” Sara asked, brows furrowed but still smiling. 

“I dunno,” Scott admitted. “But how ‘bout it?”

Sara let out a lighthearted laugh, catching herself when she realized it was the first time that she’d really done so since their mother died. “You are on,” she said. “But if I'm first, I get your twenty credits and your hoodie.”

“You mean the one you stole from me three years ago?”

“I gave it back to you! So technically, I borrowed it.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “If you want it that bad, then fine. But if you're adding more than cash to this bet, I bet you won't make it a week without ending up in the medbay.”

Sara let out a little gasp. “I am not that accident prone!” 

Her brother gave her a look that told her he thought she was full of shit. “Uh huh.”

“I’m not!”

“Keep telling yourself that, sis.”

Sara huffed, but if she was being honest with herself, she was enjoying these moments with her brother. She loved her family so much. She could only hope they could start again.

Sara was the first to get into her cryo pod, Scott in the one beside her while a couple technicians readied them. 

“You’re good to go,” the asari helping Sara said. 

She looked over at her brother. “Scott,” she started, getting his attention. “See you in six hundred years.”

He smiled. “See you then, Sara.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please consider leaving a comment, I love getting feedback in all its forms ^_^


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